ABSTRACT
This chapter analyzes the operations and functions of the Vietnamese state-sponsored media system and traces its development from past to present. It observes that the concept of revolutionary journalism reflects an understanding of the press as perpetually a political and ideological activity integral to the institution, maintenance, and furtherance of the party’s rule. In this chapter, I am particularly concerned with exploring continuity and change in the relation of journalism to the production of state ideology, regulation of media in the era of Đổi Mới and the advent of internet-based social media that challenge the Communist Party of Vietnam’s control over the content and flow of information. While Vietnam is routinely ranked as among the world worst countries in terms of press freedoms, the nuances of journalism in the country are more complex and interesting than is commonly known. The production, circulation, and regulation of journalism in contemporary Vietnam show de facto tensions and contradictions stemming from the contested representation of social life on a daily basis and, in particular, the fluctuating boundaries of press freedoms in a country whose once-revolutionary ruling party has sought to retain and enforce its press monopoly while also relaxing restrictions on the circulation of social commentary at the margins.
